FDA testing orange juice import shipments
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Food and Drug Administration is testing inbound orange juice shipments at US ports for a fungicide, carbendazim, that has been found in brand-name juice products sold in the States.
The FDA has not revealed the name of the juice company that first detected the presence of the fungicide. Neither has the FDA issued an Import Alert, which would furnish more details. The WSJ notes that Coca-Cola Co. has said it found the substance in juice made by Coke and its competitors – and that some Brazilian growers had sprayed their orange trees with the stuff.
If the contamination is traced to Brazilian O.J., there may be a price rise where you pick up your container. Brazil accounts for the biggest share of US imported orange juice – as the pie chart below shows.
We looked at the full-year’s information available in our bill of lading database and found that any contaminated juice shipped to the US may well wind up in groceries in Asia and the EU. Consignees for shipments from Brazil are led by Citrus Products, Inc.; Citrosuco North America; and Louis Dreyfus Citrus Trading, LDA, traders supplying European markets. Similarly, top consignees for shipments from Mexico include Israel-based Prodalim B.V.; Marubeni, exporters of foodstuffs to Asia; and Citrofruit c/o Kloosterboer Rotterdam. To find out what else you can learn from our bill of lading data, including shipments as recent as yesterday’s, just ask us.
